Being head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers is unlike any other job in the NBA. The expectations that come with this franchise are immense, and the fact that one of the all-time greats in LeBron James is on the roster only heightens that pressure. That is what is facing JJ Redick in his first ever head coaching job.
The Lakers are looking to compete right now with LeBron in his final years and Anthony Davis in his prime. But the franchise is also trying to balance that with developing younger players such as Austin Reaves, Max Christie and Dalton Knecht.
Handling that while also dealing with all of the media coverage and constant fan scrutiny is something that many struggle with for good reason. But Redick understands what is coming and is embracing everything that comes with this job, via Khobi Price of the Southern California News Group:
“I know that [there are] people I know and I kind of fall in this camp of, I get more enjoyment and fulfillment when there [are] stakes, when there [are] consequences to competition,” Redick told the SCNG. “This is not a situation where there’s a long runway of rebuilding or developing five first-round picks. It’s like a perfect marriage of the now and the future.
“You have established Hall of Famers that are still playing at an extremely high level. You have up-and-coming players that we can tap into and pour into even more. And then you have a bunch of guys that we’re going to try to develop into really good NBA players. I’m not scared. I said this to [Lakers general manager] Rob [Pelinka] when I was getting interviewed: I can have an idea of what the scrutiny is going to be. I’m expecting it to be unimaginable, while also expecting it to be worse than I could ever imagine. And I’m like, ‘OK, that’s fine.’ That’s fine. It’s all good.”
This is the way Redick has to approach this job. Jumping into the highest pressure situation the NBA has to offer, with no prior experience, is beyond difficult. As he said, the scrutiny will be beyond anything he can imagine, but the same can be said about the potential success.
The Lakers are a franchise that can’t be compared to any other and Redick has a steep learning curve and a lot of things to balance. But he understands this is the job and if he really thrives when the stakes are highest, this is the chance to do that.
JJ Redick not concerned about dangers of Lakers making another deep NBA Cup run
Something else JJ Redick needs to juggle is the NBA Cup, which the Lakers won last season, but struggled mightily coming out of it. But the idea of having another deep run in the tournament is not something Redick is worried about.
“Not concerned about the second part,” Redick said. “I would like our team to win every single game we play, including preseason games. So I thought the In-Season Tournament was awesome last year, as a fan. We called a bunch of the Friday night games for ESPN, I was out here for the semifinals and did some studio work the next day. So I appreciated it as a fan. I think the feedback from players and teams was pretty good. They’ve altered the schedule a little bit this year just to give a little bit more time in between games. So I think that potentially could help with the teams that do end up playing all the way to the championship game.”
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